Mary Portas has launched an online petition calling for the new Labour government to block Shein’s hoped-for £50bn London listing.
The retail consultant joins a host of campaigners piling on pressure for the government to interfere after the fast fashion retailer confidentially filed papers with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last month, Reuters reported.
The “Say No to Shein” campaign, which is also backed by former Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas, wants the government to block the retailer’s application to list on the London Stock Exchange until it has completed a thorough investigation into its labour practices, environmental impact and tax arrangements.
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Portas said on Wednesday: “Why would we as a country consider embracing a company like Shein onto the London Stock Exchange?
“This is a company with allegations of unethical business practices, modern slavery, and violating labour laws. Surely we are better than this?”
The petition, which has been signed by more than 33,000 people as of 17 July, follows calls by UK-based human rights group Stop Uyghur Genocide for the FCA to refuse the application on legal grounds.
A Shein spokesperson told the Financial Times last month: “Shein has a zero-tolerance policy for forced labour. We take visibility across our entire supply chain seriously and we are committed to respecting human rights. We require our contract manufacturers to only source cotton from approved regions.
“We pay manufacturing suppliers competitive rates so they can pay fair wages to their workers.”
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